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One Hundred Dollars a Month

I am your typical housewife living in high maintenance suburbia. I have a handsome husband, 2 kids and a flock of pet chickens. I try and feed my family with $100 a month. With the help of coupons, gardening and bartering I am able to squeeze the most out of our grocery budget and still manage to have a little fun along the way.


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Baked Mac and Cheese Recipes, Deals on K Cups, 2018 Farmer’s Almanac and More

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Quote of the Day “Sometimes traveling to a new place leads to great transformation.”

Hello Tuesday!

On the agenda for today:

  • Walk with Mrs. HB
  • Mail Packages
  • Make something tasty for dinner
  • Paint Monkey Boy’s room
  • Finish up a rug hooking project
  • Unpack
  • Snuggle with the puggle

How about YOU? Do you have anything exciting planned? Do you have any good brownie recipes? I’m in the mood for chocolate and would love to try out a new recipe.

Well, have a great day everyone, stay cool.

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deal of the Day for 9/26/17

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese – Nothing welcomes the cool weather better than a big hot pan of homemade mac & cheese. If you’ve never tried homemade before, start with this recipe. It’s a keeper!

Home and Kitchen Deals

Discount Mags is offering a 1 year subscription to Runner’s World Magazine for only $6.99 a year when you use code MAVIS at checkout. This deal will expire 9/27/17 midnight EST so be sure and grab your subscription before then.

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

Amazon has 30 Kids eBooks on sale for $1.00 each. Go HERE to see the titles available.

Kid’s Stuff

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Goes to Aldi {Again} in Nashua, New Hampshire

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Is it weird that while we were in Nashua I made the HH take me to Aldi so I could take a look around? Sometimes we visit museums when we travel, other times it’s grocery stores. Why be predictable, right?

Aldi’s every day price for milk. CRAZY!

Whenever I see pork chops for sale I want to yell PORK CHOPS and APPLESAUCE. And I have no idea why. Is that phrase from a movie of something and I’ve just had it stuck in my head all these years? I’d love to know the answer to that one.

Ground beef $2.49 a pound.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts $1.89 a pound.

2 Pounds Brown Sugar $0.99 {Those are holiday stock up prices in the NW}
5 Pounds Flour $1.59

Greenhouse tomatoes $0.75 a pound. Waaaaay cheaper than Costco.

And so were the mini cukes!

8 Ounces of Mushrooms for $0.79.

I didn’t try this brand of caramel waffles, but these treats are pretty pricey in regular stores, aren’t they?

I bet these are similar to the LU Cookies Le Petit Ecolier, The Little Schoolboy Cookies that sell for $3-4 at the grocery store.  Has anyone tried these? Do I need to bring an extra suitcase next time and stock up on them?

And last but not least, fair trade coffee for $5.32 a pound. Not too shabby if you ask me.

So what do you think?

Do these prices compare with what you are finding in YOUR neck of the woods? Do you have an Aldi nearby? If not, do you wish they’d open a location near you? I sure do.

~Mavis

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

$250 a Month Food Budget – Groceries, Take Out and Date Nights – September 18th – 24th

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This past week the HH and I were on vacation, and although we were on a budget, it’s the only time of year I don’t include our food/grocery purchases in our weekly expenses. At the beginning of each year we set aside money for our general vacation fund, and we use that money throughout the year for airline tickets, car rentals, hotels, food and whatever strikes our fancy when we travel.

Here are some of the foods we enjoyed as we traveled around New England this past week:

Most places are selling pumpkin spice latte’s this time of year, but in the northeast… it’s maple!

One of my all time favorite things about New England, are the country stores. They’re all so different. And charming. Here in the PNW, we don’t have them. Instead we have mini marts stocked with the usual junk food, lottery tickets and corn dogs under a heat lamp.

Country stores in the northeast:

  1. They almost never sell gas.
  2. Public restrooms? Ha! No.
  3. They are typically run by the owners.
  4. The business is almost ALWAYS run out of an old house.
  5. There is always plenty of seating on the front porch.
  6. They make the BEST sandwiches.
  7. They offer a lot of local products.
  8. You actually want to hang around there.
  9. It’s a great place to talk to locals and get information on the area.

The Portsmouth Farmer’s Market. In my mind, this was an ideal farmer’s market. The way it should be. 80% farmers, 20% {quality} craft products. And the $3 pretzels? Ah-mazing.

Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine.  They make a mean chowder. And their garden is beautiful. Even if they do have kale in it. 😉

A random pub in Portsmouth, NH. You can never go wrong with a caprese salad in late summer. Or calamari according to my husband.

Breakfast at Lil’s. {Post coming soon!}

Fancy steak dinner on the waterfront with red pepper polenta and asparagus.

Gelato in Newburyport, MA.  We both ordered a small. And they were huge.

What’s the going rate for Honeycrisp apples in your neck of the woods? In Nashua, NH they run $3.45 a pound.

And the apples were shipped in from Washington state.

Anyone like crab legs?

Anyone know someone would spend $400 on a 20 pound box? I don’t. But, wowza! That’s like someone’s winter heating bill.

Hotel breakfast for 2 {included with stay}.  Which I had to go downstairs to get because my husband would rather starve then fetch his own breakfast in a hotel lobby.

Dinner for 2.

Dinner for 1 the next night because apparently I took too long on the computer and didn’t notice until it was too late that my husband had eaten the entire plate of food.

Eating pizza in the back of the car after a long day of driving through neighborhoods.

Clam strips.

The HH finally got his lobster roll.

Which he ate in the back of a small salumeria in the North End after I bought a handmade salami to bring home and a salami and cheese sandwich for lunch. The HH thought it was totally weird that we were eating in the back of this guys shop until another customer sat down across from us a few minutes later with his meatball sub. It was awesome. And totally away from the tourists. It made me feel like a local.

Only on vacation would I spend $22 for 12 of the BEST fig cookies on the planet. Never, in a million years would I do that in my day to day life. I LOVE being frugal to the core, but when we travel, all bets are off when it comes to food. Some people choose fancy accommodations, upgrades on their rental cars, or tickets to plays or movies. We will typically spend our vacation dollars checking out the local neighborhoods and eating the local food. Things we wouldn’t normally make at home.

I think the fact that we don’t normally eat out much, buy a lot of take out, throw our money away on snack foods, or make fancy meals at home makes us appreciate when we do go out so much more. Vacations… they can be so much fun.

Until you come home and step on the scale. 😉

Ha!

How about YOU? Did you buy any super amazing food this week? Do you have a favorite food you look for when you travel? I’d love to hear about it.

~Mavis

Total spent this week on treats – Vacation Money {I didn’t keep my receipts}

Total Spent in January on Groceries $202.99
Total Spent in February on Groceries $143.94
Total Spent in March on Groceries $183.35
Total Spent in April on Groceries $205.67
Total Spent on Groceries in May $248.60
Total Spent on Groceries in June $147.47
Total Spent on Groceries in July $293.63
Total Spent on Groceries in August $117.29
Total Spent on Groceries in September $98.01
************

Total Spent in January on Take Out, Date Nights, and Bakery Treats $42.19
Total Spent in February on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $118.45
Total Spent in March on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $25.29
Total Spent in April on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $62.50
Total Spent in May on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $54.52
Total Spent in June on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $119.15
Total Spent in July on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $12.45
Total Spent in July on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $0
Total Spent in August on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $212.67
Total Spent in September on Take Out, Date Nights and Bakery Treats $132.50

Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.

 

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Homemade Almond Bars, Deals on Baby Formula, Coffee and Tea, Red Flyer Bike, Luggage and More

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Quote of the Day “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.”  Mother Teresa

Hello Monday!

It’s good to be back home and snuggling with the Puggle princess again. I think she missed us. 😉 The kids did a great job taking care of the house and Lucy and the grass looks so much greener now that the stinky Tagro has settled in. Grass seed is next and then all I need to do is wait for spring bulbs to go half off, get them planted and my yard duties are finished for the year. Well, I’ll still need to clean up the garden beds but those are easy {and fun} projects to do.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone, enjoy the day.

♥ Mavis

*This deal post will be updated throughout the morning so be sure and check back for deals. * Amazon prices can change without notice. Please verify price before ordering. Amazon offers Free Shipping with a $49 purchase or Amazon Prime. {Sign up for a free Amazon Prime 30 day trial!}

Amazon Deals of the Day for 9/25/17

Available Kindle Books I think look interesting…

The prices on Kindle Books can change quickly, so grab them while you can. Don’t have a Kindle? Download the kindle app on your other devices. It’s easy! 🙂

Subscribe and Save Deals

Subscribe and Save prices reflect a 15% discount for ordering 5 or more items in 1 month.

Dutch Breakfast Puff – The cool weather motivates me to actually use the oven again.  Too bad I won’t be using it for awhile, but you can, and then I can live vicariously through you.

Home and Kitchen Deals

Cashew Almond Bars – These are like kind bars, only way more cost effective.  Plus, I am a pretty big fan of the grab and go option.

Add on Items

*These are all Amazon Add-on Items and they will ship with qualifying orders over $25 and are eligible for free shipping on $25 orders with Amazon Prime {or will ship FREE on $35 orders without Prime}. 

Today only Cents of Style is offering Leggings for $10 OFF (starting at $6) + FREE SHIPPING with code LEGGINGSTEAL at checkout.

Kid’s Stuff

Shop Now at Zaycon Fresh

Zaycon Foods is now taking orders for their upcoming events. Below are their offerings and prices in my area.Go HERE to find out what is available in your area.

  • Fresh 93/7 Super Lean Ground Beef $3.79/lb X 40.00 lbs $151.60/case
  • Fresh 80/20 Ground Beef $2.79/lb X 40.00 lb $111.60/case
  • Fresh Boneless Applewood Smoked Ham $3.49/lb X 20.00 lb $69.80/case
  • Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs $1.69/lb X 40.00 lbs $67.60/case
  • Fresh Whole Chickens $1.59/lb X 35.00 lbs $55.65/case
  • Fresh Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts $1.69/lb X 40.00 lb $67.60/case
  • Wild Argentine Shrimp $7.99/lb X 20.00 lbs | $159.80/case
  • Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Fillets $7.49/lb X 25.00 lbs | $187.25/case
  • Kansas City Strip Steaks $8.49/lb X 14.00 lbs | $118.86/case
  • Angus Ribeye Steaks $9.99/lb X 14.00 lbs | $139.86/case

This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.

Mavis Butterfield Etsy